Homeless, living in a shelter and taking day labour, things couldn’t be any worse. Then Oscar, the man to whom he owes everything vanishes, and he’s left to find work, a life, and his friend, in a world that where everything is spiralling down.

I will say that this book has a very odd text size, and I had to reset my Cloud Reader to larger text to read it. As a result I cannot review formatting and layout for this book. It didn’t matter. By page 20, which I only realised I’d reached when I was distracted by the doorbell, I was hooked.

Told in first person, this is a gripping, depressing, and, in places, a harrowing read. The constant wear of homelessness and poverty are realistically depicted and never far from our nameless protagonist’s thoughts. As he finds out more about Oscar and who his friend really was, the secrets knock away many of the supports he relies upon, leaving him adrift. The story also confronts to random risks of homelessness that hamper his investigation at every turn, from lack of cash or shelter, to trying to get food and random violence.

For anyone who thinks this type of poverty doesn’t exist in the UK – grow up and look around. It is very easy to slip through the cracks of the system. I might be wrong but there are several signs our hero, whose point of view this is told from, has had mental illness, a mental breakdown, or possibly both, which are common causes of homelessness.

Mystery and literary fiction fans might enjoy this, as it combines a brief but captivating mystery with an excellent character examination. Just don’t go for it if you want something happy and upbeat, as this is gritty and street level.